How To Reach Manchester

A metropolitan borough and a major city in Greater Manchester, England, Manchester lies within the United Kingdom’s second-most populous region with a populace of over 2.7 million and is the 3rd most visited city in the country after Edinburgh and London. Renowned for its cultural heritage, musical exports, architecture, scientific and engineering results, sports clubs, social developments and its transport connections, Manchester lies in a bowl-shaped urban landmass, bordered on the North and East ends by the upland chain of Pennines and Chesire Plain on the south end.

It is located approx. 56km from Liverpool and with the River Mersey flowing through the south of Manchester, much of the city’s inner construct is flat with extensive views of its sky-high building in the moors and foothills of the Pennines. One of the fastest and cheapest ways to travel to Manchester would take approx. 13 hours and 44 minutes.

From New Delhi, there are roughly 6 options to get to Manchester by air. From Indira Gandhi International Airport it is best to fly to Manchester on KLM, British Airways, Finnair, Lufthansa, Emirates, Air France, Oman Air, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways or Etihad. The estimated fare on the route varies between INR 24,000-43,000. Other alternate routes by air include flying to Leeds Bradford, Birmingham, Humberside, London Heathrow or Durham and then making the onward journeys by train/road or both.

If you’re traveling to Manchester Airport, then on arrival, you take a train to Manchester Piccadilly, which will have you there in 15minutes. The train leaves for Manchester Piccadilly every 10 minutes at an estimated fare of INR 320-500 and train operators on the route include TransPennine Express with a train every 15 minutes, Northern Train in every 20 minutes and Transport for Wales in every 4 hours.

If you’re flying to Leeds, from Leeds Bradford Airport, Bus point, you need to board a bus to the Leeds City Centre, City Square and in 30 minutes, it will have you at the Leeds Train Station, where every half hour a train leaves for Manchester Piccadilly at an estimated fare of INR 1200-1800.

From Birmingham International, there’s a train for Manchester Piccadilly at hourly intervals and take roughly an hour & 45 minutes to reach Manchester. While a train journey from London Heathrow to London Paddington - bus ride to Euston Station and then a train journey to Manchester Piccadilly will take you approx. 2 hours and 40 minutes in all.

If you want to travel by road, the distance between Leeds and Manchester is roughly 69km and about 36 minutes. It takes approx. an hour and 5 minutes to get to Manchester from Leeds on the bus. On average, the bus journey from Birmingham to Manchester takes about 2 hours and a few minutes, which may vary depending on the traffic en route. With over 25 buses a day, you can hop on a National Express operated coach for the 70-mile trip. From London Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 to Manchester Coach Station on Chorlton Street takes roughly 7 hours or so, while from Durham, the bus journey is about 2 hours and 15 minutes to Manchester Victoria.

Given the compactness of the city’s centre, exploring Manchester on foot is a popular choice, while TFGM/ Transport for Greater Manchester’s official public transport for the city. There’s a free bus for journeying within the city with a free hop-on/hop-off service that connects with all the major shopping districts, rail stations and business complexes and operates on circular routes; while commercial bus services help you in getting out & about Greater Manchester.

The Metrolink Network with its frequent services transports you between popular sites and tourist attractions, with travel cards that offer unlimited travel for access to trams, in addition to the inter-city train connections that help you access the neighboring towns and areas of Greater Manchester with its train network. Manchester’s also bike-friendly with marked cycle lanes and dedicated routes across the city’s centre and beyond.